Chicago Cubs: Dillon Maples could be undervalued bullpen weapon

Chicago Cubs: Maples showed promise in brief sample size

What Maples accomplished last year is nothing short of impressive. He opened the season at High-A Myrtle Beach before stopping in Tennessee and Iowa. In early September, he got the call and made his big-league debut against the Atlanta Braves.

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Between his Minor League stops, Maples put up a 2.27 ERA across 52 appearances. His swing-and-miss stuff spoke for itself as the right-hander notched more than 14 strikeouts per nine. That being said, he demonstrated a penchant for the base-on-balls, as well, walking more than five batters per nine. To say that’s an isolated instance in the Cubs’ pitching ranks would hardly be fair.

Mostly good – a little bad

Maples made just a half-dozen appearances with the Cubs late in the season and his numbers are skewed from a horrendous relief outing against Pittsburgh. In that game alone, he allowed five earned runs – recording just one out.

All told, he struck out 11 men in just over five innings of work. Not bad for a guy who started the year in the low levels of the Minors. It’s clear he’s got the potential to be a shutdown arm in The Show. But he’ll have to blow the doors off Sloan Park to get it done out of Spring Training.